In Silence I Shine
by never-trust-a-red-haired-girl
Summary: Jay refuses to speak to anyone, even her partner. But when she finds herself in a foreign land she attracts the attention of one O.G., and he makes it his mission to pry her from her shell. Erik x OC
1. Chapter 1

In Silence I Shine

Chapter 1

_My life was as perfect as it could have been. I had an apartment of my own, a job that paid for itself and a goal. Most people have goals, I knew, but mine felt especially important. My goal was to capture the man that ruined my life, get him on death row and personally escort him to his grave. A little morbid, really, but it got me out of bed every morning. Though if I ended up shooting him during a chase or anything like that I wouldn't be disappointed. Still, I liked to think that I was better off than most._

_Past tense._

The world is cruel. This fact is universal, pertaining to everything on the planet both living and not. From the moment you are conceived you start to die. The first time you take a breath of air should be considered your greatest achievement and every time you wake up in the morning you should be thankful. You never know if someone tried to kill you in your sleep.

Thoughts like these constantly ran through Jay's head every time she woke up on the rare occasions she could fall asleep to begin with. Ever since the night she lost everything images of worst case scenarios plagued her mind even during the most menial of tasks, a chorus of "what if's" always playing in her head like a dark and obscure score. The only thing that kept her going every day was the drive to catch the man who had destroyed her life.

She could remember that night clearly. The sirens, the crime scene tape, the looks of pity that she had come to loathe all stuck in her head like a never ending film. She had been out with some friends from school to see a movie, though she could not remember which. When she unlocked the door she found something that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Her mother lay on the floor with her blood pooling around her body and her clothing ripped as an obvious sign of rape. Her father was tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth, his shirt stained crimson and his eyes staring lifelessly at her mother's body. Her eyes immediately started to scan the room, looking for her little brother. Her gaze landed upon the blood smeared television as it replayed the menu screen for Dinotopia and a lump formed in her throat. She didn't need to look around the couch to know who the blood belonged to. She remembered hearing the sound of footsteps in the kitchen and seeing a man in the doorway covered in blood and eating the last bites of a sandwich. He immediately charged for her and gagged her before she could even scream. After that, all she could remember was darkness and pain before she awoke in a hospital with the right side of her face bandaged.

The rest of the month went by in a blur. She could hear the doctors telling police that she hadn't been raped but the man had cut up the right side of her face, leaving her permanently blind in that eye. Everything else – the interrogation, the funerals, the alienation at school – all melded together into one big lump in her mind until she discovered the one thing that would bring her out of her depression.

Music. The most simple and complex thing on this earth. Something that she could use without words to express her feelings, for after hours with a government provided therapist who only cared about his paycheck she finally shut down, refusing to talk to any and every one. But she didn't need words. Her music spoke to those who stopped to listen to the point where they always walked away in tears even when the sounds she created were jovial. Her musical and academic gifts got her scholarships that she used to go to a school for criminal justice and before long she was the youngest member ever to be a part of the Special Victims Unit in New York.

When she was offered the chance to be a part of a medical procedure that would restore her sight she jumped at it, hating that everyone gave her the easy jobs because of her blindness. The surgeons gave her a new eye that was donated by a man who died in a car crash. The only downside was that his eyes weren't the same shade of dark brown as hers but instead hardened silver, a color that must have made the man seem angry even when he was at his happiest. The contrast between her eyes acted as both a repellant and attraction and only added to the annoyances she found accompanied her everywhere she went.

She thinks that this abnormality in a world where everything must fit in with everything else is what led to the events that both helped her and emotionally drained her.

It had been her day off and her partner, Anthony, had promised to take her to the circus after he discovered that she had never been to one before. While Jay had been reluctant to go at first, Anthony's insistence along with the fact that she felt she needed a distraction from "The Case" led her to agree and they set off that very evening.

Jay and Anthony made it to the circus just as the lights were turning on. He ushered her from one tent to the next, stopping at every game and booth in between. It reminded her of some macabre version of the nightmares her little brother used to have. He'd wake up in the middle of the night screaming about clowns and hideous beasts and wouldn't calm down until their mother rocked him back to sleep while he held his big sister's hand.

Jay turned from the game that Anthony was playing while fighting back the urge to run from the park. Her attention was caught by another woman beckoning from a tent that stood a little back from the rest. Immediately the detective's alarm bells went off and she slowly approached, nonchalantly patting her waist to make sure that her gun was still tucked into her belt. The closer she got to the tent the farther the gypsy backed into it. "_Come into my web" said the spider to the fly _Jay thought, finding the old saying appropriate.

She entered the tent and sat in the seat that the gypsy motioned to hesitantly while the woman took the seat across from her. She motioned to Jay's hands and she placed them on the table, stiffening slightly when the woman took them in her own.

"Do not worry, little Songbird." The Gypsy said. "I mean you no harm nor do I wish to take your money." The woman gently rubbed Jay's right palm. "You have seen much tragedy for one so young and I fear you will only see more." She gazed into Jay's visible eye with pity and regret. "You poor thing. I wish I knew how to help you." Jay just shook her head and placed her other hand on top of the woman's before glancing at the flap of the tent. "I think I know how to help now." The woman suddenly said before getting up and going over to a trunk that had been sitting in a corner. She rifled through it for a minute before returning to Jay with what looked like a piece of jewelry. There were crystal beads threaded through a piece of twine and then braided together to form a simple bracelet. The gypsy tied the bracelet onto Jay's wrist with the instruction to never take it off and then sent the confused detective out of the tent. "Be warned, Songbird. The journey you are about to go on will not end well if you stray from your path."

Before Jay could even wonder what the woman meant her arm was grabbed by Anthony and she was once again being dragged to another tent. She turned her head to see if she could catch a glimpse of the gypsy but both the woman and the tent were gone.

Jay tried to make sense of that encounter for the rest of the night and most of the following week. She would have brushed it off as just a dream if it weren't for the bracelet on her right wrist and the pounding headache she had upon her return to her apartment from all the incense fumes.

Finally it was the weekend and she had been forced by her chief to go home. It was on her way home that she saw the gypsy again. The woman was standing in an alley and started to walk away when she and Jay made eye contact.

_I was stupid then. You'd think that being a fed would teach me how to listen to my gut, how to be suspicious. But no. Those years of hiding in the corners to get away from the stares and bullies, learning to read the signs so you could tell when something was off or someone meant to cause you harm flew out the window the moment our eyes met. This was something that I had to do, as much as I disliked the thought._

_She led me to Suicide Bridge, a foot bridge that spanned this sorry excuse for a river somewhere in the Boondocks. This bridge had no rails and was crumbling in some places, the perfect place for someone with nowhere to go. She stopped and waited for me dead center of the bridge and didn't move as I approached. But before anything could happen the ground beneath me gave way and the entire bridge collapsed._

_I held my breath, closed my eyes and waited…_


	2. Someone New

In Silence I Shine

Chapter 2

_I don't remember much after falling from the bridge, but what I do remember was nothing like I expected. I was waiting for the chilly waters of a river-turned-dumping-ground and being crushed by slabs of crumbling concrete. Instead I found myself lying on the roof of an old stone building covered in snow and unable to open my eyes, let alone move. As I fought to remember if it was winter or not in New York (it was summer, thank you very much) I heard a door open and the sound of footsteps across fresh snow. There was a gasp and a woman calling out in French. She ran back to the door and yelled out to whoever would listen._

_I managed to open my eyes just enough to get a feel for what was going on and saw two slippered feet. The woman had come back and knelt down next to me while covering me with something warm and heavy. She spoke soothing French words as a large man ran out and gently picked me up before carrying me into a building that was only slightly warmer than the weather outside._

Within an hour everyone that worked within the Opera House had heard of the strange young woman found on the roof of the building. She had been brought to the stage since that was where the manager was and laid down with the greatest of care. Christine used her lap to cradle the woman's head and a heavy blanket had been fetched from one of the prop rooms and wrapped around her small frame. She looked as if she was no older than young Meg Giry and yet something about her spoke of age.

Her hair was short enough that it was off the neck in the back yet long enough to cover the right side of her face in front and a shade of red that none of them had ever seen before. Her face was rounded just enough to soften her features and the edge of a scar could be seen peeking out from under her bangs near her chin. Her ears were pierced multiple times and her clothes were baggy to the point where people couldn't even tell her gender at first glance.

Murmurs could be heard from all around the stage and even the auditorium where the maids as well as members of the stage-crew had gathered as the manager decided on what to do. "We can't cast her out." Christine said, sticking up for the unconscious girl. "It's the middle of winter and she is obviously foreign. She could be hurt or worse!"

The manager sighed and looked down at the girl in Christine's lap. "Madame Giry, would you be so kind as to look after this young woman until she awakens?"

An older woman with grey-blond hair and proud features stepped forward and nodded. "I will do my best, Monsieur LeFerve."

LeFerve nodded and motioned for everyone to carry on their business as the unknown woman was carried to Madame Giry's room and laid to rest on the older woman's bed. With the help of her daughter, Meg, the mystery woman's clothes were changed into something warmer and she was tucked in. Meg was assigned the task of keeping an eye on the new tenant's temperature and making sure she didn't get sick and Madame Giry came back every hour to make sure that things were under control. After almost six hours of this routine it was time for everyone to turn in for the night. Madame Giry had left to make sure that her ballerinas were tucked in when the girl laying in her bed finally stirred.

A figure had been watching over her from the moment she was brought to the stage by Christine and one of the stage-hands. He had followed the girl as she was brought to the room of his friend Antoinette Giry and stayed with her, only leaving for his nightly vocal lessons with one of the chorus girls. She had piqued his interest for only one reason. Nothing goes on in the Opera House without his knowing, especially a foreigner that managed to bypass everyone that worked within the buildings walls and who found her way to the roof.

The moment the girl stirred he held his breath and absently wondered what her eye color was. He was slightly disappointed when her visible eye opened to reveal that it was a dark brown, a shade that was relatively common. She immediately shot into an upright sitting position as her head whipped around, the action causing the hair that covered the right half of her face to fly around. What that exposed made the watcher gasp. The right side of her face was marred with a cross shaped scar. One stroke went from her forehead ho her chin while the shorted stroke went from her temple to her nose. The two scars met on her eyelid, a problem that normally would have left her blind if it had not sealed her eye shut. However, instead of being blind her right eye was the color of the finest silver.

He could see the panic rising in her mismatched eyes as her hair fell back into place and he quickly thought of a way to calm her down. He opened his mouth and started to softly sing to her. At first her head continued to whip around now in search of the phantom voice, but after a few seconds she relaxed and steadied her breathing. He watched with fascination as she closed her eyes and her fingers started to play an invisible piano in a silent accompaniment to his voice. _So she has some musical talent_ he mused a she continued to play. He couldn't help but wonder if she could sing as well and as his song came to a close and her visible eye opened he saw a desire in her that he recognized. A smile formed on her face and she immediately set about the room in search of a pen and stationary. After finding the desired items and staring at the quill pen and ink pot in front of her quizzically she sat down and began to write. From his vantage point behind the mirror the watcher could see as notes flowed from her mind to the pen and then to the paper. Within only an hour, in which he had gone to find Madame Giry and request that she leave the girl for a little while longer, she had not only written the melody for his song but she had also written the words exactly as he had sung them.

After going through her work and nodding in satisfaction she glanced around the room and her eyes landed on the mirror. Her watcher held his breath and backed up slightly as she approached the reflective glass and moved her hair to stare sadly at her scar in the reflection. Her sad gaze suddenly hardened into an angered glare as she ripped her hand away from her face, letting the hair fall back into place. She once again surveyed the room and picked up a stray piece of fabric that had been left when Madame Giry was mending one of her dresses. She fingered the black material almost lovingly before holding to up to her face and turning back to the mirror. After moving the scrap around a little she nodded in satisfaction and picked up the spool of thread and the needle that had been next to the fabric. He watched in mild surprise as she fashioned a makeshift mask and used it to cover the scarred half of her face.

Soon after she maneuvered the mask into place the door opened, startling the poor girl into backing up against the mirror. Madame Giry stood in the doorway with a surprised expression before composing herself and giving the unnamed woman a once over. "I am glad to see you awake." She said in French before motioning for the girl to get back into the bed. The girl stared at the older woman with slight distrust before slowly maneuvering to the bed while keeping her caretaker within sight. She sat down and fixed Giry with a stone cold stare as if waiting for an explanation. "How did you get on the roof?" the blond woman asked.

The girl's expression went from blank to obviously confused and she tilted her head to the side in a way that reminded both Giry and the bystander behind the mirror of a puppy. "I will ask only once more. How did you get on the roof?" The girl shook her head and motioned to her throat. _She's mute._ The realization hit both Giry and the man at the same time and the blond woman turned to fetch a paper and the quill. As she did so she noticed the sheet music with the lyrics and turned to the girl before motioning to the paper. "Did you do this?" When the girl nodded the woman glanced warily at the mirror before handing her a blank sheet and the quill. "Now, please answer my question."

The girl looked at the woman in front of her in an almost sheepish manner and wrote down one word. _English?_

Giry's eyes widened and nodded before switching from French to heavily accented English. "So you can only understand English?" When the girl nodded she pressed on. "How did you get to the roof?"

The girl's expression turned extremely confused as she wrote. _I don't know. The last thing I remember is falling from a bridge._

Giry's expression turned equally confused by the girl's statement. "Well, how about something you can explain. What is your name?"

_Jay._

The woman nodded in acknowledgment before posing her next question. "How old are you, Mademoiselle Jay?"

_23._

Her age startled the older woman but she kept her composure. "I thought you were much younger. Tell me, why do you wear a mask? I don't recall seeing it when you were brought here."

_I used scrap material I found. I apologize if you were going to use it. And I wear it to keep the memories away._

The last part of her statement left a bad taste in Giry's mouth but she held her tongue. "Well, you have had an obviously tiring day. Get some rest and we will see if you can stay here in the morning."

Jay simply nodded and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Giry glanced at the sheet music sitting on her desk and then at the mirror. She knew that the Phantom of the Opera had been watching the girl. She could feel his eyes on her every time she entered the room. Hopefully he would leave this one alone. Her gaze once again settled on the small pile of paper and knew that her hopes were for naught.

_I don't know where the phantom voice came from, but I did know that I wanted to hear it again, to get it on paper and burn it into my memory. I knew that no mere piano could match the haunting quality of that voice. Maybe an organ would be better. Yes, when I wake up I will re-write that song for an organ instead of piano. And then I will figure out where the hell I am. No, that's not right. I believe the question is more of a "when" than a "where."_

_But time travel? That's absurd. It is scientifically impossible. No… Improbable. That was father's area of work, after all. He had been studying something called a time-slip. I remember hearing him talk of it around the dinner table. But still, the whole thing was too fantastic to be true. I could only hope to wake up on the shore of that filthy river or better, at a proper hospital. Had Anthony even noticed that I was missing?_

_Did anyone notice?_

_The "what if's" are back. I hope I don't go mad._


End file.
